UPDATE: A rep for Microsoft says Business Productivity Online customers will have a choice of hosting with Telecom, via a Microsoft partner, or on-premise via Gen-i.

Taking a baby step beyond shrink-wrapped software, Microsoft has launched a hosted service called Business Productivity Online suite.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) set-up sees customers use of Office Live Meeting (pictured; for web conferencing), Exchange Online (for accesing email, contact and calender info from anywhere) and SharePoint Online (for document sharing and collobration) that sit on a Microsoft sever – in the “cloud” as the vernacular goes – rather than a server inside the user’s own company.

The hosted service has been launched in 19 countries, including New Zealand, where options range from a $5.31 a month per user “Deskless Worker” option for workers who spend little time at their desk but need online access to messaging, which provides access to a 500MB Outlook inbox and read-only access to documents placed online via SharePoint, to a full-blooded account that costs $27 a user per month.

A 30-day trial can be activated now via microsoft.com/online, with the full commercial version launching April 1.

However a key component of the suite, Microsoft Communications Online, which adds unified communications features like “presence” (telling you where a colleague is, according to their Outlook calendar, and how they can be contacted) is not yet available for trial. It should launch April 1.

Microsoft New Zealand chief executive Kevin Ackhurst says the Business Productivity Online suite could save companies between 10% and 50% in IT-related expenditure.

The company promises a high-level of security and uptime.

The Premiere edtion of Google Apps costs $US50 per user per year, and is also available in a free Standard edtion that lacks customised email addresses, and uptime guarnatee and other business-friendly frills.. The service offers similar hosted calendar and email services, plus document collaboration via Google Docs, Spreadsheets and other programs in the suite, but lacks higher-end features such as Microsoft Live Meetings interactive web conferencing, and Microsoft Communications Online's "presence" and other unified comms features.